Sony NEC Optiarc AD-5200A

Advantages: Quick burning and access time
Disadvantages: Poor build quality

...I purchased this drive early last year to replace a failing sony cd writer I had in my pc at the time. I had heard good things about this drive as it was supposed to be the fastest on the market at the time for burning both cds and dvds. After installing the drive in my pc the drive was picked up fine by the bios and windows detected it as the correct drive. The first thing I did was test the burn speed of both cd and dvd. I was not disappointed as this drive burnt cds in only a few mins and dvds were not much slower. Unfortunately as this was my only dvd writer I cannot compare it to other drives in the dvd writing department. In terms of cd burning, it was around 20 seconds quicker than my sony drive which was rated at the same burn speed (this may be due to newer firmware etc as the drive is about 2 years newer than the sony... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: High-quality, good warranty.
Disadvantages: Cost, no DVI.

...I've used many NEC monitors; both CRT and nowadays LCD. The 913n was actually recommended to me by a friend, and I'd seen some good reviews elsewhere. Having used it for a while now, I'm very happy with it. I'm into gaming, and this model's colours are very sharp and the overall picture quality is excellent. My only real concern is that it's lacking DVI input, which would have improved its already excellent picture quality. Also, NEC monitors tend to be more expensive than other manufacturers. Bottom line: I can happily recommend this NEC monitor for those that have the cash - you certainly get what you pay for with the 913n! The warranty package is also good and NEC offer good technical support.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: supports great range of colour, responsive, easy to install, cheap, 3 year warranty
Disadvantages: speakers could be better

...I was unlucky enough to win a Liyama Pro Lite E2200WS on a competition site, with a RRP of £220 and threw away my old monitor confident that my new one would be head and shoulders in terms of performance. Anoyone who has read that review will now that I thought it was poor to say the least with a wide range of expletives used to describe it. Needless to say it got wanged on Ebay and was sold thankfully for £135 much to my amazement. That left me with £135 to purchase a replacement and this came in the form of the NEC MultiSync LCD175VXM+ for £130 in a stylish silver finish. For £130 you get a 17-inch LCD monitor with digital TN+ film TFT display, slightly smaller than my Liyama but in terms of colour and resolution it beats the pants of it destroying the myth you get what you pay for. The MultiSync LCD175VXM+ has a slim design so... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful